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Newsletter # 30
CANADIAN RURAL CHURCH
NETWORK
INDEX:
RURAL ISSUES ● Disaster in Australia ● Dakota: A Spiritual Geography (a review) ● HOPE CHURCH - a textbook for small church ministry ● Restoring Rural Cultural and Spiritual Values
RURAL MINISTRY (life and faith) ● Congregational Stewardship Best Practises
WORSHIP RESOURCES ● On Eagle's Wings ● Toward A New Age ● Foxes Have Holes ● Life-Giving Possibilities
IRCA International Conference Announcement
RURAL ISSUES
Disaster in Australia: from the International Rural Church Association's Newsletter
Dear Rural Church Friends and People of Faith Worldwide:
Our prayers first and foremost this week are surely for the people of rural Victoria, Australia, where the most horrific bush fires have raged, taking human life as well as animal life, homes, farm plant and pasture
Jason Kioa, Moderator of the Victoria and Tasmania Synod of the Uniting Church in Australia writes:
We are all deeply saddened and grieve the tragic events that have unfolded, and are still unfolding, across Victoria due to the bushfires.
Alongside acts of untold bravery and great generosity we have witnessed the horror and pain of death, injury, loss of homes and cherished items. Tragically the death toll will continue to rise.
If you are in contact with people directly affected by the fires please pass on the love, support and prayers of the Uniting Church. Even at this early stage we are aware of some Uniting Church people caught up in this tragedy in the worst possible way. Our prayers go out to the bereaved, those who feel all kinds of loss so keenly and who cannot image what their futures might bring. I ask you to join a prayer chain across our Synod to support, care and contribute to their recovery. Already Ministers and members of the Uniting Church have offered care to those affected. This has been the care that comes, not in blaze of publicity, but quietly and genuinely. I am sure we are all thankful in knowing that such support is being offered right now. Many have been wondering how the church will respond at this time of great need.
Firstly
I would say, it is still too early for us to make final decisions as to
what should be done. The wider community - of which we are all a part-
has swung into action, and that is deeply humbling. Additionally we will work, as we always do in such times, by providing our specialist services through the Victorian Government's Displan, which is activated for churches through the Victorian Council of Churches. News of a national appeal will be released shortly, and disaster relief funds from the Assembly are already immediately available. Please know that every little bit can help. In a touching story of genuine response, one of our UnitingCare mobile kindergartens has been sent to one of the community relief stations, just so the children caught up in these horrific events can have somewhere to play, relax and begin to work through the devastation that has befallen them. I would also like to pass on the prayers and messages of heartfelt support from the President of the Assembly, Moderators from other Synods and heads of agencies from across Australia.
The President of the Uniting Church, Gregor Henderson, speaks of "The horror of scores of lives lost, hundreds of homes destroyed and communities devastated, touches all of us very deeply. We thought it was impossible for the disasters of Ash Wednesday 1983 and Black Friday 1939 to be outstripped, but these 2009 fires, dreadfully, have done so." The UCA has released funds from their National Disaster Fund and they have launched a national appeals for funds for both emergency relief and the longer-term pastoral care and rehabilitation for families in need.
Go to http://victas.uca.org.au/ if you'd like to read more.
No doubt other churches in Australia will be doing likewise and rural ministers across the ecumenical family of the church will we doing their best to support and needing all the prayers we can offer them.
Dakota: A Spiritual Geography (a review) (Notes written by Joyce Sasse, Feb. / 09)
Dakota, by Kathleen Norris, has long been lauded as an important read for any student of rural sociology and rural ministry.
But I've always felt ambivalent about the book, and it was only after re-reading each chapter that I began to analyze some of the rough spots.
As a prairie gopher, I relish the astute way Norris describes the huge spaces, the harsh conditions, the wind, the sparse population and the beauty of North and South Dakota.
Where I felt offended was with her stereotypical conclusions about the values and lives of the people in the community (in the centre-section of the book). People on the Canadian prairies have also been labeled like that by outsiders who judge them according to outside standards.
I could almost see the hair go up on my mother's neck when she felt talked-down to. At the same time I could recall my grandmothers, each in their own way, instilling in me the qualities of prairie living that value land, community and God. Each was a "Prairie Aristocrat".
Norris believed, because she inherited land from her grandparents she also inherited, as if by osmosis, the cultural and spiritual values of Dakota folks. But she views them through a harsh lens that is foreign to them. And, until they are ready to trust her and enter into true dialogue with her, they won't show their truer side.
For an outsider to have entree into a community like this, they need to take time to invite the locals to tell their stories and muse over whether their visitor has caught the correct nuance. Slowly listener and story-teller starts naming the values together, and in the process gain respect for each other.
HOPE CHURCH - a textbook for small church ministry (Notes written by Joyce Sasse, Feb. / 09)
When Kathleen Norris became involved with the people of Hope Church, the whole tone of her story-telling changed. This one chapter of Dakota could become a text-book for persons working with small congregations.
Typical of many small congregations, the people from the region face depopulation, and feel excluded from the larger political and church communities. But Norris writes "it is one of the most successful churches I know ... It gives people a sense of identity."
While the building appeared to be unpretentious, even the outhouse was kept painted. The grounds were neat. The interior was well-kept, maintained with pride.
"This is the church in the neighbourhood", attended by participants from a variety of religious backgrounds. Some had college degrees, most were well-read and kept informed about a variety of interests. They had a strong sense of justice, and were generous in studying about and giving to causes around the world.
Food was an essential part of their hospitality, and outsiders were made to feel welcome.
They take for granted that God is at work in the world, and have a theology that helps them acknowledge their pain.
Norris was asked if she might give leadership in worship during a period when they are without a regular clergy. She wasn't theologically trained and comes from different religious roots. But she was a poet and teacher and had been a frequent visitor at many Benedictine monasteries.
She accepted the challenge and decided the best approach was to talk about stories from the Bible and invite the congregation to interconnect these stories with their own life-stories. What Norris realized as they repeated their stories was that the people identified with the pain in the original stories. The challenge of living took on deeper dimensions for all participants, Norris included.
She quoted a story told by a former pastor. "I spent some time on trail-rides with Hope's ranchers and also helped at lambing. But they were a lot bigger help to me than I was to them. To touch the earth, the real earth, once again, restored my soul."
Restoring Rural Cultural and Spiritual Values (Notes written by Joyce Sasse, Feb. / 09)
Traditionally the elders in small communities were the guardians of the community's cultural and spiritual values. Their responsibility was to help succeeding generations understand these values and practise them.
But, with the infringement of urbanization, respect for the elders has been eroded. The media has recklessly imposed diverse ways of thinking.
Now it is up to the churches in small communities to help the people re-name and re-acquaint each other with these values. What is more, this task fits hand-in-glove with teaching the Gospel traditions, which emerged from a rural context.
Kathleen Norris, in her book Dakota, got it right. The landscape where we feel rooted, either because of our heritage or because it is a place that brings us peace, is so important in the formation of our spiritual values.
She tells us the Hope Church people took it for granted that God was at work in the world. Ample stories were, and still are, told that confirm how rural people know this to be true.
The focal point of life is the community: family, church, 4-H, town, municipality - where they know each other (sometimes for generations), care for each other (especially in times of emergency), and help each other try to focus on what is best for the whole.
Pain is something everyone has experienced, either individually or through the pain of others in the extended community. Many rituals and traditions are brought to the forefront at this time. But much work still needs to be done, especially in the light of contemporary pressures that affect the lives of the people.
People in these communities are both highly independent and highly interdependent. Outsiders need to build levels of trust with leaders before they feel they are embraced.
The chief means of communication is by story-telling. Beneath the story-telling, intuitive elders hear truths that others easily over-look.
The church community can invite its people to talk about their stories, especially in the light of the Gospel story; look at how these values can be applied in the contemporary world; and find ways to hand these traditions from one generation to the next.
Furthermore, the values of this kind of community are sorely needed as corner-posts for grounding the Global Community.
RURAL MINISTRY (life and faith)
Congregational Stewardship Best Practices
What do we know about stewardship best practices? In CRCN Newsletter #28, I shared some of what I discovered in my Doctor of Ministry project about correlations between increased generosity in The United Church of Canada and connecting stewardship in worship every Sunday. My thesis advisor believes that the information translates well across denominational lines.
In addition to educational moments in worship, there are a number of places in congregational life to offer stewardship teaching and discussion opportunities. They can be planned conversations, or they may just arise out of the context of a group discussion or engaging with biblical texts. They can take place in adult Bible study or other small groups, membership or confirmation classes, Sunday school, baptism preparation, premarital counseling, family or individual counseling, as well as in board and committee meetings. You may have discovered other possibilities.
In my project, churches with the highest per capita giving were more likely than other United Churches to engage in these discussions. There may be a connection to why their givers gave more per capita.
By a stewardship discussion, I do not mean talking about what people give to the church. Stewardship discussions are spiritual. They open up the nitty-gritty aspects of how our faith journey guides how we make choices about just about everything. Who and what is important in our life? What do we fear? Where do we place our trust? Where is our security? Clearly, those questions can lead into the mine-trap of talking about money. And that is also very spiritual. Our relationship with money can both affect and reflect our relationship with God and others, including the earth and environment.
One of the most interesting findings in my project related to stewardship education. I found higher giving in churches that offer personal finance training. This is an area that North American churches have only begun to address in recent decades. At a 2003 stewardship event, I learned that 80% of people in the United States have unsecured credit card debt without the means to repay it on short notice. According to Statistics Canada, the Canadian figure at that time was 38%. Nevertheless, money management is also a significant concern in Canada, especially in the current economic climate.
Very few United Churches - only fifty-nine churches, two percent of respondents to the congregational survey I analyzed-indicated that they offer personal finance or budget training. However, those who did so experienced an average increase in per capita giving of thirty-six percent over the six years studied in my project. At the end of the years studied, their average per capita giving was twenty-five percent higher than national per capita giving.
Three aspects of intentional stewardship strategies-stewardship in worship, stewardship education (study and discussion opportunities), and congregational financial stewardship (operational management)-each influenced giving statistics in their own way. Taken alone, the strategies in the area of financial operational tactics had a greater effect than addressing stewardship in worship or in stewardship education outside of worship. I will write about those financial operational strategies next time.
However, churches engaging in good stewardship operational strategies, without the educational and worship connections laying a theological and theoretical groundwork, sometimes saw diminishing results. My project indicated that such things as stewardship preaching and personal financial training opportunities can both impact giving in a positive way.
Identify which things you are doing now, then consider introducing some new stewardship education and discussion opportunities into congregational life and see what happens.
(Barbara Fullerton is program minister for Stewardship Development in the United Church General Council Office. Barb can be reached at bfullert@united-church.ca or 416-231-7680, x4161.)
WORSHIP RESOURCES
On Eagle's Wings
To listen to the news or read the paper, one might think the only item of interest is the economy. Always, the words associated with it spell gloom and doom and pending disasters.
That news combined with the harshness of the weather can weight heavy on our psyche. It is important we keep our thinking in balance.
I recall a Christmas story that told about a depressed king who was so miserable he made life miserable for everyone else.
His subjects tried to cheer him by distracting his attention. First, they gave him a dancing bear. Ridiculous! Then a case of mirrors (so he could see how sour he looked.) Imagine his reaction to that!
Finally a box with holes in it was left on the palace steps. When it was opened it had a baby inside. A real live baby, who laughed and cried and reached out for him. The old King couldn't help himself. He tickled and cooed and rocked the baby. And smile-lines wrinkled his face.
The connection was made to the way God gave us a similar gift - or should we say gifts: the Christ child, our own youngsters, and the children around us.
In their innocence and naivety, they can call us back to a world that is full of joy. We are reminded of the other things that bring life and hope to our day.
"And I will raise you up on eagle wings" song-writer Michael Joncas wrote, reflecting on the Psalms. "Bear you on the breath of dawn, make you to shine like the sun, and hold you in the palm of my hand."
Think of the exhilaration, the strength, the security, the feeling of peace we have when we look at things from God's perspective.
We need to remember to celebrate our gifts.
(Notes written by Joyce Sasse, Feb. / 09)
Toward a New Age
With a sad smile, the Spirit of the Earth watches over that which is called humankind. They seem to have gotten themselves into quite a pickle. Such that there's no smoke pouring from the chimneys of their factories. And the hustle and bustle of their tar-sand-plants has grown still. And not so many freight containers are piling up on the docks...
A dirge of despair and inactivity has settled over the globe. There are very few signs of vibrancy and assurance.
The sad smile on the face of the Spirit of the Earth is one of commiseration. She understands. Years ago she tried so hard to tell them to slow down their thoughtless over-consumption. They were polluting water that nourishes the earth. They put harmful toxins in the air and in the soil. They plundered the land with fiendish abandon. There was a price to pay, even if they chose not to notice the changes in the climate, the boils erupting on their bodies, the warnings delivered by those with foresight.
Can the present now become a time for new beginning? Can humankind, now that we've been forced to slow down and re-assess our situation, recognize we have a choice? For the long-term survival of the earth and our own institutions, we need to find ways to modify our activities, search out ways to lighten our foot-print on the land, think about what we can do to preserve this fragile landscape that is our home.
Is the present financial and credit crunch a blessing in disguise? Have we been given a second chance to re-think how we will move forward? Can we and the Spirit of the Earth move forward together? In harmony? With respect?
We have been given a grand and glorious world. Thanks be to God.
(Notes written by Joyce Sasse, Feb. / 09)
Foxes Have Holes
Luke tells the story of a young man approaching Jesus with the offer, "Teacher, I will follow you wherever you go." An adventure!
However, the reply was unexpected. "Foxes have holes, and the birds of the air have roosts," Jesus said looking deep into his eyes. "But the Son of Man has nowhere to lay his head."
In other words, have you any understanding of what's involved? This isn't done on a whim.
"Take a closer look", Jesus warned. "Maybe you won't be so enthused once you understand what could happen."
Even a few of the original followers, overhearing the conversation, give attention to the paradox. Their leader talks about having God-given power and authority, but it's true that none of them know where they can sleep tonight.
Even though people are drawn to the rabbi because of his wisdom, he understands himself to be a prophet who, by conventional measure, appears to be a looser.
"If you cast your lot with me, you join the ranks of the dispossessed. Do you want that?"
"If what you are looking for is power and influence, than go to those -birds' who know how to -feather their nest'; or follow the -fox' who manages his affairs with considerable cunning." Kenneth E. Bailey helps us look at the passage in his book In Peasant Eyes.
"I'm not kidding," Jesus warns, "when I tell you that, in spite of your expectations, the Son of Man stands powerless and alone."
The passage becomes more poignant during Lent, and speaks to both individuals and churches. This is not a ministry of triumphalism, of judging others, and of celebrating those things we label as -victories'.
Are we ready to help carry the burdens of agony, pain and grief?
(Notes written by Joyce Sasse, March / 08)
Life-Giving Possibilities
When the mob descended on the tiny band of disciples outside the Garden of Gethsemane, survival instinct took over. "One of them (with a sword) struck the High Priest's slave and cut off his right ear."
"But Jesus said -Enough of this!' He touched the man's ear and healed him."
This act of respect lies at the heart of the Christian Gospel.
Jesus dwelt in the midst of people who lived on the edge of their nerves. Their country was overrun by invasive forces. Their means of livelihood was eroded by corruption and graft. Disease and fear of disease led to all sorts of superstitious practises. He watched them fight back with whatever survival mechanisms they could muster. Some used brute force. Some withdrew into themselves. Many white-knuckled their way through life.
Jesus' central message, reflected through actions as well as words, said "I'll show you a better way!"
He ate with sinners, healed the possessed and gave attention to the dispossessed.
Each time, he tried to help those around catch a vision of the larger picture. It's about loving and respecting each other as God loves you. It's about finding ways to show that in caring for others and being generous in Spirit, you also nurture yourself. God has given us an amazing capacity to find meaning in life as we show compassion and understand forgiveness.
This isn't an easy path. In the darkest hours he prayed for inner sustenance. Even when those closest ran away and he was killed, he showed there was a source that nurtured him.
Some understood the vision. Those qualities kept them at the cross and brought them to the tomb. There they began to realize this unique attitude to life could not be extinguished by death.
This God-given Spirit has been let loose and is made available to all who choose this calling.
(Notes written by Joyce Sasse, March / 08)
IRCA INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE ANNOUNCEMENT
The International Rural Church Association has
finalised the scheduling of its next conference for 2010.
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